This is one of the most interesting portraits by the enigmatic artist, Frida Kahlo, the wife of Diego Rivera who has gone on to practically eclipse him now in the popular imagination of today - although Diego himself is making a comeback and now is almost running neck and neck with the diminutive cult goddess once again.

It shows a child on a woven sleeping mat, known as a "petate", having accomplished what is known in Mexican venacular as "petatear" (a slang expression meaning to die). I used to think that he was dressed as a prince, but I found out later that he is actually dressed as El Santo Niño de Atocha. Frida seems to have been somewhat obsessed with such themes. It was quite common in Mexico formerly to take photos of dead family members, especially children. This work is generally known as the "Portrait of the Child Dimas".

Although Frida is most properly and technically called a surrealist, in my opinion, she was a particular genre native to Mexico which I refer to as a “Neo-Retablo Painter” - because all of her works were essentially icons, each with a magical significance that related to some mystical expression or other and that was tied to an event or circumstance somehow - just as are retablos and ex-votos.

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These pieces are made with recycled wood - Mexican fruit crates - or “rejas” as they are called - by Bryant "Eduardo" Holman. the self styled "King of Taco Deco".

These are not quality prints - this is simply a decorator item, and not an authentic piece of historical significance.

From Fausto's Art Gallery in Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
(Shipped from Presidio, Texas)

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$10.00 dollars plus $5.00 shipping and handling